rabbit

plural rabbits

1. countableuncountableA mammal of most genera of the family Leporidae, with long ears, long hind legs and a short, fluffy tail. (Those of the larger kind are instead called hares)

   The pioneers survived by eating the small game they could get: rabbits, squirrels and occasionally a raccoon.

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   Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.

   1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], “The Old Punt: A Curious ‘Turnpike’”, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 19–20

2. uncountableThe meat from this animal.

   She was cooking rabbit stew for dinner.

3. uncountableThe fur of a rabbit typically used to imitate another animal's fur.
4. countableuncountableA runner in a distance race whose goal is mainly to set the pace, either to tire a specific rival so that a teammate can win or to help another break a record; a pacesetter.
5. countableuncountableball gamesA very poor batsman, selected as a bowler or wicket-keeper.

   Synonyms: walking wicket

6. countableuncountableball gamesA batsman who is frequently dismissed by the same bowler (said to be that player's rabbit).

   Glenn McGrath dismissed Michael Atherton a record 19 times; hence Atherton is McGrath's rabbit.

   Synonyms: bunny

7. countableuncountablecomputingA large element at the beginning of a list of items to be bubble sorted, and thus tending to be quickly swapped into its correct position. Compare turtle.
8. countableuncountableRarebit; Welsh rabbit or a similar dish: melted cheese served atop toast.

   CHEESE TOASTED, OR RABBIT.

   1858, Mrs. N. K. M. Lee, The American Family Cook Book, page 47

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   The cheese mixture may be served with toast on the side or poured on top of toast and grilled until golden brown and bubbling. Other variations include Buck rabbit, a Welsh rabbit with a poached egg on top, and Yorkshire rabbit with bacon ...

   2018, Helen Saberi, Teatimes: A World Tour, Reaktion Books, →ISBN

   Hannah Glasse offered recipes for Scotch, Welsh, and English rabbit. This is her Scotch rabbit: Toast a piece of bread very nicely […] Cut a slice of cheese, […]

   2019, Mark Kurlansky, Milk: A 10,000-Year History, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN

9. countableuncountableA pneumatically-controlled tool used to insert small samples of material inside the core of a nuclear reactor.

   This rabbit is constructed such that only that fraction of the beam that passes through the 15g-in. diameter target container reaches the Faraday cup behind the rabbit.

   2012, Joseph Cerny, Nuclear Spectroscopy and Reactions 40-A (part 1, page 249)

10. countableuncountablegenericized trademarkA vibrator with a shaft and a clitoral stimulator usually shaped like a rabbit's ears.

    She reached into her night stand for some lubricant and her rabbit vibrator.

    2023 June 6, Madeline Cox, 250 Sexy Erotic Stories: Age Gap, Taboo Dark Reverse Harem, Forbidden Naughty Family, Tales for Adults, BDSM, Rough Daddies Dom, Sexy Hot Story for Women and Men, PaperGram LLC, →ISBN

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    Rabbits come in many forms/In colors, shapes and sizes./ They satisfy a lady's needs,/Indulging her sweet vices.

    2013 07, larry morgan, FOOTSTEPS: Poetic Reflections on the Opposite Sex and Life's Other Contradictions., iUniverse, →ISBN, page 37

    First, she showed us the standard dildos before moving on to the rabbits—vibrators with little ears to stimulate the clit.

    2018 August 29, Vivienne Savage, A Man of Many Talons, Payne & Taylor

present singular third person rabbits · participle present rabbiting · participle present rabbitting · participle past rabbited · past rabbited · participle past rabbitted · past rabbitted

1. intransitiveTo hunt rabbits.
2. USintransitiveTo flee.

   The informant seemed skittish, as if he was about to rabbit.

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   When the three friends heard someone behind them yell, "police, freeze!" they each rabbited in a different direction.

   The attacked man stressed to the GCN the importance of confronting someone who is harassing a person in the Fenway. He said the attack on him could have been prevented if another man who was in front of him prior to the attack hadn't "rabbitted out of there."

   1986 December 7, Kim Westheimer, “Gay Bashing Still a Popular Boston Sport”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 21, page 3

   Synonyms: run off, scamper, bolt

present singular third person rabbits · participle present rabbiting · participle past rabbited · past rabbited

1. UKintransitiveTo talk incessantly and in a childish manner; to babble annoyingly.

   Stop your infernal rabbiting! Use proper words or nobody will listen to you!

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   Ah start tae feel her up, while rabbitin a load ay shite ahoot how we huv tae stick thegither at a time like this.

   1993, Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, Times Film School, page 90

   Synonyms: rabbit on, blather, prattle, babble

1. Confound; damn; drat.

   LORD D. There, Dick, d'ye hear how the tutorer talks? oh rabbit it! he can ladle you out of latin by the quart;—and grunts greek like a pig.

   1797, George Colman, The Heir at Law

1. The fourth of the twelve-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.